neigenvsnötigenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“neigen” and “nötigen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,766
“neigen” frequency rank
#5,990
“nötigen” frequency rank
18756
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature neigen nötigen
Definition in Schräglage geraten; schräg werden jemanden durch Androhung oder Ausübung von Gewalt zu etwas zwingen

Where the eye mixes neigen and nötigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
neigen
7 ch
nötigen

Visual trap between neigen and nötigen

A purely visual mix-up. neigen ([ˈnaɪ̯ɡn̩]) and nötigen ([ˈnøːtɪɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18756, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

neigen is recorded at frequency rank #12,766, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnaɪ̯ɡn̩]. nötigen is at rank #5,990, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnøːtɪɡn̩].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 18756, this pair ranks #1,915,210 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of neigen vs nötigen

Shared letters: egin. Private to "neigen": -. Private to "nötigen": .

"neigen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "nötigen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • neigenenigen · negien · neiegn · neigenn · neiggen · neigne · niegen · nneigen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "neigen" and "nötigen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaɪ̯ɡn̩] versus [ˈnøːtɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "neigen" vs "nötigen" - which ranks higher?
"nötigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,990 in our German list, against #12,766 for "neigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "neigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nötigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,915,210 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "neigen" and "nötigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagen vs neigen". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,915,210 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list